Apparatus for the treatment of ores.



G. MITCHELL.

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ORES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. B, 1912.

1,074,282. Patented Sept. 30, 1913.

2 SHEBTS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES INVENTOR 1 611 war T COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON. u. c.

G. MITCHELL.

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ORES. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 8, 1912.

if if WINESSES INVENTOR a furnace wherein theore, say forinstance burners, the lower section 'ofthe converter intermediate the hearth and converter, and

' is a viewin side elevation of a portion of the being adjacent the stack, if desired, which balt, gold and silver ores.

be drawnfromthe' pool on the hearth into a section through the .furnace and converter MITCHELL, DE LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF ORES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 30, 1913.

Application filed November 8, 1912. Serial No. 730,296.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE MITCHELL, of Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of Galifornia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Treatment of Ores; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the-same. I, 7

My invention relates to an improvement in apparatus for the treatment of ores and particularly copper, iron, lead, zinc, co-

. The object of the invention to-provide copper, may be smelted and the matte reduced or bessemerized in one heat, the heat from the converter assisting in smelting the ore; and it consists in afurnace with a converter at one end and adjacent the fuel being removable, a smelting hearth intermediate the converter and the stack, a dam a trough leading from the hearth to the outside of the furnace, wherebythe matte may ladle, and chargedinto the :converter. I In the accompanying drawings,.Figure 1 furnace; Fig. 2 is a view in horizontal section through one side wall of thefurnace and end wall of the crucible showing the spout and ladle; Fig. 3 isa view in vertical only one half being shown and Fig. 4 is a view inelevation partly in section showing the means for tilting the converter.

1 represents a furnace of substantially the shape shown, and of a length sufficient to provide an ample sineltinghearth 2,"and a converter 3, which as shown is located at one end of the furnace and the stack flat the other end, a steam generator or boiler 5,

generates the steam employed for the blowers for the converter. 7 i t T- The furnace may be arranged for burning coal, oil, or gas, either natural 'or artificial, and in the present instance, I-have shown burners 6'for gas or oil, the burners being located at the end of the furnace over the converter.

The converter as shown, is "sunkenbelow I the hearth thereby providing a space the full depth of the furnace above the con verter which greatly -minimizes the wear and tear on the roof caused by mechanical action and chemical reaction of the matte during the converter operation. The upper part of the converter is formed as in integral part of the furnace structure, with the hearthv 2 at the rear, the latter havin a slight pitch from its rear toward the front and is scoop shaped adjacent the dam 8, so as to form a pool, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, into which the matte gravitates and where it is stored until drawn off into the ladle as will be hereinafter described. The lower section 9 of the converter is rectangular in shape, and curved transversely in the arc of a circle as in Fig. 1. I would have it understood however that I do notconfine the invention to any particular shape of converter, but have shown it as above simply'as the preferred form. The lower section 9 is mounted on a cradle 10, carried on a truck .11, the wheels 12 of which run on trackways 13, the cradle being supported on hydraulic; jacks 14 carried by the truck,by which the removable section 9 may be raisedinto positionand lowered, for its removal to a point where it can be con- 13 located at right angles to the furnace, but it will be-clearly evident that it may be in thedirection of the length of the furnace, so that the bottom section of the converter may be moved outendwise of the furnace.

' The cradle. 10 carryingthe converter, is provided-with a series of grooved rolls 10 located respectively at the ends and at intermediate point or points. These rolls are mounted to rotate and form-supports for the railslO secured to the underside of the converter, theheads of the rails resting within the grooves-of the wheels so as to be guided by the latter. The converter 10 is also provided on its bottom with a rack 10 which is engaged by the'gear wheel 10 mounted in hearings on the cradle 10, and meshing with the pinion 10 on the armature shaft of the motor 10 the latter. being firmly secured to the cradle 10.

From the foregoing it willv be seen that by energizingthe motor, the lower section of the converter may be tilted to discharge its contents, orto receive a spout by which the matte may be supplied to the converter.

I ,While Ihavelshown an electric motorand.

: or-chamber is formed preferably all around gearing for tilting the converter, it will-beapparent that any other-typeofmotormay be used.

By making the converter in'tWO sections and mounting the lower section on a truck,- when one has :been removed for rell'ning 01 a the converter "fonthe convenience of the op erators 1n" examin ng" the" converter" and twyers, andto provide ample space for the manipulation of tools through the twyers.

. for: removing deposits from thelatter;

The converter'is provided "with atap hole, l7' fortapping the charge, andalso with a and slag tap hole 18 Jthrough skimmin Leading fromitap' holes lQ'intheside of the furnace, in? rear of the dam; 8," is .a trough 20 lined With'fire bricki This trough leads from the pool .onthe hearth in rear of the'dam, and extends downwardly and "for wardly at the side of the furnace toward; the "front 1 thereof, so "that the matte when drawn oif, will flow' by gravity'from'the hearth intoaspout22hsecuredto one end of the lower section ofthe converte'r.in the plane of5the skimming'door 18, so thatith'e matte discharged therein from the trough 20-will flow directlyinto the :converter.

The trough 20 preferably" communicates with the hearth"throughitwo'tap holes 19,

and-is provided opposite each tap hole with" a'spout23 by'which the 'matte may be discharge'd'into'a ladle 24 carried by' a traveling crane. By opening feither tap l9,f;and1- damming "the: trough j ust" below the spout l to be used, the matte will be discharged from the spout into the1a-dle..24,i and conveyed by the Vlatterto the'spout22. in the end of the converter and discharged into the latter; When the matte isconducted to the spout22 through the trough.20,'the "spouts 23"are closed by clay plugs or other suitable devices. V v

After the smelting has progressed up l to the point'where there is sufficientmatte to blow, the'heat' generated 11113116 converter will in many instances be amplezfor smeltingpurposes butif necessary it maybe au'gmentedby the burners 6 which. are always used to start "the furnace. I

The dam 8 prevents the matte from flow inggdirectly into the converter,"hence in'the operation, acharge in thefconverterwill be wholly refined and discharged before more matte is. added.

The sides of"thefurnace in rear -"0f "the dam are provided with doors 23*"thro11gh' which "skimming tools maybeoperated for removing-the slag formed during thesmeltcing process W WVith this furnace I smelt the ores and refine: the matte by a. continuous operation,

thus doing with one apparatus the Work generally-performed by separate processes,

which results in saving in many ways the cost of "producing refined metal.

The converter may be initially heatedby gas or oil,.or by" coalintroduced through suitable openings "111130 the converter chamber.- i

It is evident that changesin the construe tion and-relative arrangement of the several parts m ght be made without avoiding my mventron and hence I' would haveit understood that I dow-notrestrict myself to the particular construction and arrangement of parts shown and described; but

Having fully described my invention what Iclaim as new and-desire to secure -'by Letters-Patent, is-:

1? In acombi-n ed smeltingEand converting furnace, the combination of an -elongated with the latter',': atruclr carrying said icon:

verter section and-Cmeans carried by the;

truclcforliftingf and lowering"and tilting 7 1 said converter section.

2." Ina combined smelting and convertingfurnace the combination: ofan'-elongated'fur V nace chamber having smelting hearth therein, an-open1ng-1n its bottom ad acent" the hearth" and dam; intermediate the i i smelting hearth" and the opening, a removable converter sectionthet0p ofwhich conforms in size' and shape to the openingin the bottomofthefrirnace chamber, f and ya I tr'ough located at one side 'of the furnace and in communication with V the hearth, and adapted to discharge intothe removable sec* tionxoftheconverter, the said trough having a -disch'arge spout intermediate the smelting.

hearth and converter whereby the matte can be tapped from the trough" into a"ladle,;from

which it mayj be i subsequently discharged into the converter;

Ina combined smelting? and converting i furnace, the comblnat-ion" of an elongated furnace" chamber having a substantially horizontal "smelting hearth," and {an opening through its bottom adjacent the hearth, a; V removable convertersect-iontheopenito Zofi H which" registers with the opening in the ottom of the'furnace' chamber, fuel iburners at.

the end ofthe 'furnace'chalnberadjacent the I converter, a damxintermedi'ate r the hearth and'converter,and a trough located at one" s1de.of the furnace and in communicat on with the hearth; and adapted to discharge into the removable section of the converter, the said trough'having a discharge spout intermediate the smelting hearth and converter whereby the matte may be tapped from the trough into a ladle from which it may be subsequently discharged into the converter.

4. In a combined smelting and converting furnace, the combination of a horizontal elongated furnace chamber having a hearth and an opening through its bottom adjacent the hearth, a dam intermediate the hearth and opening in the bottom of the furnace, a removable converter section the upper end of which conforms in size and shape to said opening, a tap hole in the removable section of the converter, slag tap holes in the furnace adjacent the hearth, and a trough extending lengthwise the furnace and in communication with the hearth, and adapted to discharge into the removable section of the converter, the said trough having a discharge spout intermediate the hearth and the converter whereby the matt may be tapped from the trough into a ladle from which it may be subsequently discharged into the converter.

5. In a combined smelting and converting furnace, the combination of an elongated furnace chamber having a hearth and an opening in the floor adjacent the hearth, a converter section the upper open end of which conforms in size and shape to the opening in the floor of the furnace, a cradle carrying the converter section, means on the cradle for turning said section, a truck carrying the cradle, and means on the truck for elevating and lowering the cradle and the converter section thereon.

6. In a combined smelting and converting furnace, the combination of an elongated furnace chamber having a smelting hearth therein and an opening in its bottom adjacent the hearth, the side walls of the opening being arched, a removable converter section provided with a curved upper edge conforming in curvature to the curve of the arch so as to make a close fit with same, a truck carrying said removable converter section and means carried by the truck for lifting and lowering and tiltin said section.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE MITCHELL. Witnesses:

W. J. THOMAS, INA EvERsHED.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C. 

